SPA124 Lafayette Escadrille (1 Viewer)

lenswerks

lenswerks

First Sergeant
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
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I hope John does at least one aircraft from Spa. 124.
Its achievements were modest, but played a major role in gaining American sympathy for the Allied cause.
Many Lafayette veterans helped prepare US Army Air Service and Navy pilots for combat.

Anyone else have any interest?
If so, what would you like to see?

Donnie
 
I would love to see N124/Spa124 aircraft. I am a huge fan of the original LE pilots and would thus love to see any/all of their Nieuports done, either the Type 11's in camo or the later Type 17's in camo or silver. The later SPAD 7's would be welcome, too. Anything from the LE would be most welcome. -- Al
 
Just want to clarify my request for LE Nieuport Type 11's. The LE also made wide use of the Nieuport Type 16, which visually is almost identical to the 11, with only the 16's pilot headrest being externally different. The main difference was the engine, the 11 being powered with an 80hp rotary engine and the 16 having a more powerful 110hp engine. It makes no difference to me which is done, just so the smaller Nieuport 11's and 16's get represented. These two types provided the LE their aircraft for their months in the skies over the battle for Verdun in mid 1916. These early Nieuports were mostly camo painted in browns and greens with light blue or cream undersides. A few were an overall cream color. The Nieuport 17 started showing up in July 1916, some of the early issues were camo but most of those issued were a silver color overall. The LE's famous Indian head insignia was the Seminole head at this time. If memory serves me correctly, the Seminole head was not replaced by the Sioux head until the issue of the Spad 7 started, probably no sooner than late 1916/early 1917. At any rate, there is a large, varied, and very interesting number of LE Nieuports to choose from. -- Al
 
I really need to organize my thoughts on the LE, it's planes and it's markings. My statement prior to this one might have left the impression that the LE Nieuport 11's and 16's carried the Seminole head at the time of their flying over Verdun in mid-1916. There is no evidence that this is so. The first Seminole heads appear about September 1916 on the silver finish Type 17's. The first one is credited to Bill Thaw, who saw the emblem on a Savage Arms ammo crate and decided to have his plane decorated with it. It then caught on amongst the other pilots. Prior to this Indian head emblem, the LE flyers had no specific unit marking. Their individual planes did carry personel markings, often in the form of a letter from their name, or some other personally improtant emblem, like a star, footprint, a die, or whatever. -- Al
 
JJD's new Nungesser N-17 is sort of a start to LE aircraft. Sort of. Nungesser flew with the LE for a while in July 1916. He was assigned to N65 but had kind of a roving commission and so would attach himself to different squadrons, on occassion. He liked the Americans and flew with them at times. The new JJD Nieuport may not have been the one Nungesser used while with the LE, but Nungesser is a connection. Maybe we can get John to do a Lufbery Nieuport, down the road.:wink2: -- Al
 
I received the Osprey LE book today and one of the color plates is of his N1490 - green and brown camouflage.
He was placed on enforced leave from his regular escadrille due to recent injuries and attached himself to N124 for two weeks.

The color plates are of many versions of Nieuports, a few versions of SPADs and a Morane Saulnier.
 
lenswerks said:
I received the Osprey LE book today and one of the color plates is of his N1490 - green and brown camouflage.
He was placed on enforced leave from his regular escadrille due to recent injuries and attached himself to N124 for two weeks.

The color plates are of many versions of Nieuports, a few versions of SPADs and a Morane Saulnier.
Click to expand...
The Osprey WW1 aviation books are very well done, accurate, and a great introduction to the history of the men, airplanes, and colors/markings in use. A very useful series. -- Al
 
Picking this thread back up in order to recommend a book I purchased a while back. It is titled "Nieuport Flyers of the Lafayette", by Jon Guttman. It is published by Albatros Productions and the format is in their typical glossy softcover, large pamphlet style. It is 40 pages of heavily illustrated history of the various Nieuports that were flown by the Lafayette Escadrille, including type, when, who flew it, and color/markings. The ills are photos and many excellently done color reproductions. There is also a set of 1/32 scale drawings/plans for the Nieuport 11/17's. If you are a fan of the LE, this is a must have publication. It is not cheap, somewhere around $42, but well worth tracking down. Best place to find it will be Byrd Aviation Books in Williamsburg, Va. They have a huge selection of WW1 and WW2 books, as well as carrying the whole outstanding Albatros Productions line of books. If you are into WW1 aviation, the Albatros books are unbeatable. -- Al
 
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